How technology can fight the deskless labour shortage

Frontline workers make up a huge proportion of the world’s workforce, and their working life is distinctly different from that of their back-office colleagues. Yet, the unique characteristics of deskless work – and the resulting challenges and frustrations experienced by frontline employees themselves – aren’t always understood or addressed by their employers. 

One challenge that’s frequently overlooked is the digital divide between frontline employees and knowledge workers. Where back office workers have access to a wealth of digital solutions in their working lives, frontline workers are digitally disconnected. 

What are the negative impacts of this digital divide – both to frontline workers and their employers? And more importantly, what can be done to help?

Whether it’s shift-based work, physical and social demands, or limited access to career development, the unique set of challenges that come with deskless work make lower levels of employee engagement almost inevitable on the frontline. Indeed, the majority of deskless workers are feeling burnt out, and nearly half are looking for a new job. 

It’s unsurprising, then, that 54% of UK business leaders at frontline-majority companies have cited low employee energy and morale as one of their top three challenges to resolve. Sadly, improving engagement requires understanding the root causes behind the issue – which have not yet been fully explored.

Our report Facing the Deskless Labor Shortage with Technology, produced in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), focuses on one key driver of frontline dissatisfaction: the substantial digital divide between frontline and back office workers. 

So what do we mean by the digital divide?

Where back office workers have a suite of tools to enable collaboration, communication, or enhanced productivity, frontline workers are frequently left to go without. As one deskless worker quoted in the report put it:

But not everyone is left without technology. Indeed, many frontline workers are given the same tools as their back office colleagues. 

However (and it’s a big however!), that causes a problem in and of itself. These one-size-fits-all approaches just don’t work for deskless workers. Remember, for instance, that deskless workers usually don’t have access to desktop computers. Most of these back-office tools are optimised for desktop.

This lack of mobile compatibility – along with factors like clunky navigation, features that are not relevant to frontline work, and security requirements which make tools functionally inaccessible on the move – means that much of the available technology just isn’t fit for purpose on the frontline. 

The result? Employees don’t use it, and become digitally disconnected.

Digital disconnection compounds existing problems with the frontline employee experience, putting downward pressure on employee engagement among deskless workers – 39%  of whom say they do not feel present or motivated most of the time. 

That low engagement means poor retention and performance – and very high costs. 55% of UK frontline workers say that poor communication is impacting their productivity, and 30% either aren’t sure how long they want to stay in their job or are actively planning to leave within the next year. 

Given that replacing each of those workers sets their employer back around 10% of their annual salary, those costs really start to add up. 

One HR technology director we spoke to for the report put it best:

Indeed, BCG research has found improved employee engagement brings a significant boost to businesses, including a 72% decrease in attrition. 

What part does technology play?

While improving the employee experience requires a combination of tactics, any engagement strategy should be underpinned by the right technology. 

Some business leaders are sceptical here – in other Flip employee engagement research, business leaders cited ‘resistance to change’ and ‘tech competence and access’ as their biggest challenges to engaging deskless workers. 

Yet when we spoke to frontline workers themselves, the appetite for solutions that fit their needs was high, with an overwhelming majority (84%) saying they’d be open or very open to using an employee app like Flip. 

Giving deskless workers technology that is purpose-built for them creates what BCG calls ‘a connected deskless employee experience’. That improved employee experience is key to boosting engagement and fighting deskless labour shortages.

Learn more about the impact of digital disconnection on your frontline by downloading the full report from BCG and Flip below.